All or Nothing

This film is worth a hundred others because it is not an exercise in making a product and marketing it successfully- instead it is a statement by a man who is a true director, someone who feels passionately about the world we live in, and uses this fantastic medium to its highest potential.

The film is ultimately about a man (Phil, Timothy Spall) who has philosophized about life to the point where nothing matters to him anymore. The only thing that brings him back around the world of the living is (the only thing any of us really need for happiness)... Love.

For me, that is one of the most pertinent and beautiful things that someone with a voice in society can say.

P.S. It is highly likely that if anyone found this film 'too depressing' than they are not really primed to expect anything other than the beauty and predictability of

hollywood film. And in response to the chap who refutes the existence of such misery in the real world: you are obviously a lucky, privileged chap.

Lets be honest, Mike Leigh's films are not for everyone. No effort is made to make them commercially viable, the cast are almost always, largely unknown and certain scenes are so harrowing that even the strongest viewer can find themselves distressed and perturbed. While these factors keep some people away, they also keep many others coming back time and time again. Mike Leigh is quite simply, a national treasure. And I don't mean that in the same fluffy "Gawd Bless 'Em" manner that people applied to Thora Hird and the Queen Mother. I mean that he is simply one of the finest and most honest chroniclers of contemporary Britain that we have produced.

Make no mistake, the British have always enjoyed social realism. We can gauge that through that great yardstick of social self-perceptions, the soap opera. While the Americans produce soaps full of tanned, successful oil barons and their supermodel / actress mistresses, and the Australians show us their blue collar bungalow owners who like a beer with their mates and a barbecue on Sundays, the British make soaps full of characters who are little more than diluted, softened incarnations of Leigh's own subjects. People who work at checkouts and in launderettes, people who are trapped by poverty, alcoholism, violence and stifled or strangled ambition.

But through it all , there's a hope, an anticipation of a better day just around the corner and that's what makes these films ultimately uplifting. Leigh has always shown that no matter how dire the circumstances, how forlorn the existence, love and hope, friendship and family, will find a way to offer support, comfort and succor.

In achieving this, Leigh has the assistance of another of the U.K.'s finest - Timothy Spall. If ever an actor was capable of portraying at once the fragility, insecurity and yet the potential for sheer stubborn strength of the British psyche its Spall. His character in All or Nothing, Phil is an incredibly vulnerable man. A pensive, gentle man, trapped in his own doubts and in a world of people who react by lashing out, verbally or physically and so compounding his doubts and fear. He apologises constantly, and often appears to be apologising for simply existing. An under-educated but intellectual man he even apologises for having an extensive vocabulary, a character trait which Leigh uses cleverly but subtly by having Phil precede each "big word" with "wotsitsname". It appears that Phil is searching for the word, he isn't, he knows exactly what he's about to say but is reluctant to say it in case he appears educated or articulate. We hear Phil talk about destiny and saying "It's...wotsitsname..kismet". In a world of expletives and harsh words he's ashamed at his verbal dexterity viewing it as a weakness rather than a strength.

Devices such as these help us understand technically why Leigh is just such a good writer and the way in which these devices are performed help us understand why Leigh constantly looks to Spall to anchor his scripts with his marvelous humanity.

All or Nothing is a vicious, gut wrenching, graceful, uplifting gem of a movie from a master filmmaker. Its is performed by a marvelous leading man and a collection of wonderfully talented supporting actors. In a world of blockbusters and multi million dollar opening nights Mike Leigh continues to give us humanity, despair, courage and beauty. And do we ever need him.

Mike Leigh, in my opinion, is the greatest director ever! He needs no animations, CGI, big named stars or million dollar budgets to produce films of pure, simple genius. All or Nothing is no exception and is proving that as he ages his films have gotten better and better.

All or Nothing reminds me of life on a council estate as I remember it when I was a kid. There used to be flats on our estate that, although not the same in appearance, where practically the same in their inhabitants: the drunk family, the quiet family (Phil's and Penny's family), the druggie families, the slightly odd kid, the angry violent boyfriend, the single mum with foul-mouth daughter. They were all there. Anyone who knows life on an estate like this would wonder how Mike Leigh can put together such an accurate snapshot into the lives of these families.

Mike's films are totally captivating. To some, it might appear like nothing really happens in them, but what I see in them is a reality that is like nothing else on film. Sometimes they're funny, sometimes so almost unwatchably painful but never, ever dull or predictable.

Once you're a Mike Leigh fan you're taken to a different level. I just can't take American movies seriously anymore.

"All or nothing" was typical Mike Leigh. The acting was superb and the characters were realistic. His movies are more like a documentary than a screenplay. I become involved with the characters and I continue to think about them and their lives for a long time afterwards. The characters in this movie led bleak, sad lives. The small amount of happiness at the end of the movie isn't enough to overcome the bleakness of the story. I can't see how these people in the surroundings they live in and associating with the types of people portrayed in the movie could work their way out of their plight. Rory and Rachel are doomed to live in this bleak place. See, I get all involved with these characters. I think they are real. That is the power of Mike Leigh's films. This is a sad movie, an affecting movie. Ruth Sheen was the one bright spot, plus she has a lovely voice.

"All or Nothing" certainly isn't a movie for the masses and I'm sure that many people will never see it or even think about seeing it and that is a shame. It's true that it is a rather depressing movie, at first sight, when you don't look closer and don't get involved in the story. When you take the time to dig deeper, you'll not only see the misery, but also a beautiful thing called love.

In this movie we mostly follow Phil, a gentle guy who works as a taxi-driver and who lives together with his wife and two children in some social housing complex in London. His daughter works in a retirement home, his son hasn't got a job and his wife works on the checkout at a supermarket. They have the biggest problems to make both ends meet every month, but that's not Phil's biggest concern. He doesn't care much for life anymore, because his wife no longer loves him. But than something terrible happens to the family, bringing them all together again, as close or perhaps even closer as they have ever been...

This movie is very realistic, hard and dark, but in the same time it is also very heart-warming. This certainly isn't a sugar sweet love story like we get too often from the big Hollywood studio's. This is what real life is like for many people. It has a social engagement (showing that even in biggest misery, people still care for each other and help each other), that probably will never be found in a Hollywood production.

I guess it will be understand and loved more by people who like realistic movies in general and socially engaged movies in particular. I might even say that it will be loved more by the people who are used to watch other European movies (Scandinavian, Spanish, French,... movies often have a deeper meaning included). Personally I liked what I saw and that's why I give this movie a 7.5/10.